Before “Vancouver Canucks » Ilya Mikheev told that his former club’s ice palace was “Avant-garde “- in terms of environment, it’s similar to NHL arenas.
Avangard returned to Omsk in 2022 in the rebuilt G‑Drive Arena. Before that, the team temporarily played at Balashikha for three seasons. Mikheev is a student of the Omsk Avangard school. In 2019, Toronto selected him in the NHL draft, and in July last year, the hockey player signed a contract with Vancouver.
— How do you find the performance of the Omsk team this season?
“I don’t watch the matches, but I follow the results,” Mikheeva told . – My parents constantly go to hockey in Omsk. I know what hype there is all the time, often all the tickets are sold out. People missed Avangard for the four years the team played at Balashikha.
I didn’t have time to see the new arena myself. When it opened, I had already flown to Canada. But from the outside, judging by the photo and video, she looks very beautiful. The entourage is similar to the NHL. Although in North America, the arenas are built in such a way that you walk around the city without even realizing that it is a hockey palace. More like a mall. There are exceptions, the same Edmonton or Ottawa, where the arena stands separately in an open space. So, outwardly, the Omsk Arena looks very beautiful. But I was told that inside there is a transcendent level. Even at times better than in the NHL.
– With whom of the “Avant-garde” do you communicate?
The line-up has changed a lot since I left. I correspond more with the staff of the team with whom I worked together. And I know that Avangard plays at home against CSKA on Thursday, and against SKA on Saturday. I only wish the guys victory, so that the fans are happy. In general, this is a unique moment, and you have to see how sick the people of Omsk are, how they worry about their team. Good luck and win another Gagarin Cup!
Avangard is 5th in the KHL Eastern Conference standings with 72 points.
Watch live broadcasts of KHL matches on the federal channel and thematic channels of the holding, as well as on the sites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.
Source : MatchTV
I’m Emma Smith, a dedicated journalist and avid storyteller. I have been writing for news websites for the past 5 years, reporting on hockey news and delivering in-depth analysis of the sport. In my current role as Author at Athletistic, I write about hockey events from around the world to keep followers up-to-date with what’s happening in the sport.
